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In the Wake of Austerity, Europe Grapples with Arts Cuts

It's been a difficult summer for some of our ISPA member colleagues
in Europe. A podcast produced by New York's radio station WQXR on
Monday August 6th discussed the recent budget cuts in Europe and debated
about whether or not American-style funding is the next solution. Below
is a description of the podcast which can be heard in it's entirety on
the WQXR website here.

The
headlines from Europe this summer are as persistent as a bad sunburn:
the Dutch government has slashed arts funding by 25 percent, Italy’s La
Scala opera house has announced a $9 million shortfall, and Madrid and
Barcelona's main opera houses have both implemented cuts in productions
and staff. Portugal abolished its ministry of culture altogether.Yes,
dire news about arts organizations isn’t just for Americans any more.
Throughout much of Europe – most notably in Italy, Portugal, the
Netherlands and Spain – generous public arts funding is being slashed as
governments impose severe austerity measures.

What will this mean
for classical music? Will more arts organizations turn to private
donors and corporations for support? Could there be an upside, as groups
are forced to be more self-sufficient? In this podcast, three experts
join host Naomi Lewin to debate the future:

Johannes Grotzky, a journalist and director of the radio for the Bavarian Broadcasting System (Bayerischer Rundfunk) in Munich

Norman Lebrecht, author, blogger at Artsjournal.com and a cultural commentator for the BBC

Andreas Stadler,
the director of the Austrian Cultural Forum here in New York and former
president of the New York branch of the European Union National
Institutes for Culture.